Part 2 — How did gluten free food hit the mainstream?

Whether you’re part of the 1 in 133 Americans who have celiac disease, avoid gluten for some other reason, including gluten intolerance, or not, it’s hard to escape the fact that lately, gluten free food has become mainstream news. On November 25, 2011, Keith O’Brien added an impressive piece to the puzzle from one of the few compassionate perspectives on the issue in The New York Times Magazine. In Part 1, we discussed how O’Brien’s piece is mostly a celebration of the influx of high-quality, gluten free products and mentioned that some small and large companies are now coming to consumers and employees who follow this medically-prescribed diet to learn what kinds of products they want to see. Still one question remains, how did the medical community transform its teachings from claims that only 1 in 10,000 Americans have this autoimmune disease in 1999 to an understanding that it’s closer to 1 in 133?

Yes, it’s been 12 years. And yes, a lot can happen in 12 years, but this change from considering celiac disease to be an extremely rare disorder to one that affects 1% of the population is bigger than most. If anything, it’s a complete reversal of opinion. And this is how it happened.

An Italian doctor practicing at the University of Maryland didn’t buy the argument that celiac is a European disease, not an American one. Dr. Alessio Fasano knew that, genetically speaking, there is a much higher incidence of celiac disease among Caucasian people of European descent. However, many North Americans have European roots, so why wouldn’t they have celiac, too? To prove his theory, he started small, and in a 1998 paper, he reported his process of randomly screening 2,000 blood samples for the antibodies associated with celiac disease. The results? 1 in 250 of these samples tested positive.

Of course, false positives happen, so the doubts in the medical community persisted. Therefore, Dr. Fasano decided to do a comprehensive study. This time, over 13,000 people in 32 states had their blood screen for the antibodies. Those with positive results, had further blood tests and, if possible, a biopsy of the small intestine to confirm the diagnosis. This time, the results were even more poignant. By 2003, he’d proven and reported not only that 1 in 133 Americans have celiac, but also that if one of your family members has it, then there is a 1 in 22 chance that you will, too.

Currently, 1% of the American population considers themselves vegan, and tons of products have been made to fulfill that dedicated niche of consumers. So why wouldn’t companies who manufacture food in dedicated gluten free facilities, like Soyummi, start popping up? Why wouldn’t large food manufacturers begin catering to a dedicated niche of consumers that need to maintain a gluten free diet to stay healthy? And most importantly, why wouldn’t consumers, like O’Brien, breathe a sigh of relief that their options are no longer limited to “cardboard?”

Posted in: Gluten Free Food
Tags: gluten free 1 in 133 celiac disease

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